In the City of David, the ancient nucleus of Jerusalem, the tribes of Israel united to form a single people. Most of the books of the Bible were written in its courtyards and alleyways, and it inspired the dissemination of the belief in one God.
Our tour route will take us among the ruins of Jerusalem's magnificent past from the First and Second Temple Periods, remains that tell the story of an ancient city.
We begin our tour at the Dung Gate, one of the gates in the walls of Jerusalem that were built in the 16th century by the city's Ottoman ruler, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The book of Nehemiah mentions the Dung Gate - one of gates leading into the city during the Return to Zion (538 BCE). At that time this was the gate used to remove the ash and rubbish from the Temple, which was then thrown into the Kidron Valley. Originally the gate was nothing more than a narrow doorway in the wall, but it was enlarged during the Jordanian rule (1948-1967) to allow vehicles to enter. Following the reunification of Jerusalem additional renovations were made. Remains of First Temple Jerusalem can be found outside the walls of the Old City.